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Merkel Party Finds Unity Over Refugee Motion

After weeks of growing tensions over the refugee crisis within Germany’s Christian Democratic Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel now seems to have reunited her party.
If one thing was clear from the standing ovation and minutes-long applause that greeted the German chancellor, it was that the center-right party is once again united and behind its party leader, for now at least, Deutsche Welle reported.
A beaming Merkel appeared on Monday to have tempered down the ructions in the CDU camp and saved herself from a renewed wave of criticism over her handling of the refugee crisis, largely due to a resolution hammered out by the CDU executive on the eve of the party conference.

“Humanitarian Responsibility”
“We want to tangibly reduce the number of refugees arriving,” Merkel told around 1,000 CDU delegates in Karlsruhe on Monday. “With an approach focused on the German, European and global level, we will succeed in regulating and limiting migration.”
Defending her famous “we can manage this” attitude toward the unprecedented influx of asylum-seekers, Merkel said she believed it was “part of our country’s identity to achieve great things.”
As Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany still has a “moral and political” duty to continue providing help and support to the world’s most desperate and vulnerable people, the CDU leader said.
“We will live up to our humanitarian responsibility,” she added.
Double Standing Ovation
A second round of rapturous applause for the chancellor at the close of her much-anticipated speech confirmed that the mood on the floor was widely positive toward the CDU leader.
In light of the motion, the leader of the CDU Youth Union, Paul Ziemiak, withdrew the JU’s proposal for an upper limit on asylum-seekers in Germany.
Bianca Seeger, a delegate for the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and board member of the CDU’s Women’s Union, said she was “hugely impressed” by Merkel’s speech and that the chancellor had addressed “all the issues that affect Germany at the moment and the concerns of the German people.”
“Merkel listens to the people, listens to their concerns and strives to find a solution,” Seeger told DW.
With the influx of refugees in Germany now tipping one million, a huge challenge still lies ahead, especially as German society works to integrate its new members.
But for now, Merkel can breathe easy in the knowledge that her efforts on Monday have reestablished the coherence of her party.